In 2023, the poverty rate of the United States was around **** percent. Louisiana was the state with the highest poverty rate, at **** percent. Poverty rates in the United States are higher than in many parts of the world, and minority groups are much more likely to be living in poverty when compared to white people.

The number of people living in poverty in the United States varies from state to state. In 2023, around 711,000 residents of Alabama were living below the poverty line. However, California had the most residents living below the poverty line with over **** billion residents living in poverty.

Graph and download economic data for Estimated Percent of People of All Ages in Poverty for Mississippi (PPAAMS28000A156NCEN) from 1989 to 2023 about MS, percent, child, poverty, and USA.

This dataset provides annual numbers for each state in the United States for 2013-2018. Includes the following data: total population, median income, and number of people living at or below the poverty level.

Helpful information on using U.S. Census data is found at https://censusreporter.org/

Graph and download economic data for Estimated Percent of People of All Ages in Poverty for United States (PPAAUS00000A156NCEN) from 1989 to 2023 about percent, child, poverty, and USA.

This statistic represents the tax burden of the poorest ** percent in the U.S. in year 2018, by state. The tax rate is the total average state and local taxes as a percentage of income. In 2018, the poorest ** percent in Washington paid almost **** percent of their family income as a tax.

The IPUMS Contextual Determinants of Health (CDOH) data series includes measures of disparities, policies, and counts, by state or county, for historically marginalized populations in the United States including Black, Asian, Hispanic/Latina/o/e/x, and LGBTQ+ persons, and women. The IPUMS CDOH data are made available through ICPSR/DSDR for merging with the National Couples' Health and Time Study (NCHAT), United States, 2020-2021 (ICPSR 38417) by approved restricted data researchers. All other researchers can access the IPUMS CDOH data via the IPUMS CDOH website. Unlike other IPUMS products, the CDOH data are organized into multiple categories related to Race and Ethnicity, Sexual and Gender Minority, Gender, and Politics. The CDOH measures were created from a wide variety of data sources (e.g., IPUMS NHGIS, the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Movement Advancement Project, and Myers Abortion Facility Database). Measures are currently available for states or counties from approximately 2015 to 2020. The Gender measures in this release include the state-level poverty ratio, which compares the proportion of females living in poverty to the proportion of males living in poverty in a given state in a given year. To work with the IPUMS CDOH data, researchers will need to first merge the NCHAT data to DS1 (MATCH ID and State FIPS Data). This merged file can then be linked to the IPUMS CDOH datafile (DS2) using the STATEFIPS variable.

Graph and download economic data for Estimated Percent of People of All Ages in Poverty for Florida (PPAAFL12000A156NCEN) from 1989 to 2023 about FL, percent, child, poverty, and USA.

Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates: State and County

In 2023, the around 11.1 percent of the population was living below the national poverty line in the United States. Poverty in the United StatesAs shown in the statistic above, the poverty rate among all people living in the United States has shifted within the last 15 years. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines poverty as follows: “Absolute poverty measures poverty in relation to the amount of money necessary to meet basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter. The concept of absolute poverty is not concerned with broader quality of life issues or with the overall level of inequality in society.” The poverty rate in the United States varies widely across different ethnic groups. American Indians and Alaska Natives are the ethnic group with the most people living in poverty in 2022, with about 25 percent of the population earning an income below the poverty line. In comparison to that, only 8.6 percent of the White (non-Hispanic) population and the Asian population were living below the poverty line in 2022. Children are one of the most poverty endangered population groups in the U.S. between 1990 and 2022. Child poverty peaked in 1993 with 22.7 percent of children living in poverty in that year in the United States. Between 2000 and 2010, the child poverty rate in the United States was increasing every year; however,this rate was down to 15 percent in 2022. The number of people living in poverty in the U.S. varies from state to state. Compared to California, where about 4.44 million people were living in poverty in 2022, the state of Minnesota had about 429,000 people living in poverty.

Historical chart and dataset showing U.S. poverty rate by year from 1963 to 2023.

Graph and download economic data for Estimated Percent of People of All Ages in Poverty for North Carolina (PPAANC37000A156NCEN) from 1989 to 2023 about NC, percent, child, poverty, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Estimate of People of All Ages in Poverty in Idaho (PEAAID16000A647NCEN) from 1989 to 2023 about ID, child, poverty, persons, and USA.

In 2023, **** percent of Black people living in the United States were living below the poverty line, compared to *** percent of white people. That year, the total poverty rate in the U.S. across all races and ethnicities was **** percent. Poverty in the United States Single people in the United States making less than ****** U.S. dollars a year and families of four making less than ****** U.S. dollars a year are considered to be below the poverty line. Women and children are more likely to suffer from poverty, due to women staying home more often than men to take care of children, and women suffering from the gender wage gap. Not only are women and children more likely to be affected, racial minorities are as well due to the discrimination they face. Poverty data Despite being one of the wealthiest nations in the world, the United States had the third highest poverty rate out of all OECD countries in 2019. However, the United States' poverty rate has been fluctuating since 1990, but has been decreasing since 2014. The average median household income in the U.S. has remained somewhat consistent since 1990, but has recently increased since 2014 until a slight decrease in 2020, potentially due to the pandemic. The state that had the highest number of people living below the poverty line in 2020 was California.

Graph and download economic data for Estimated Percent of People of All Ages in Poverty for Vermont (PPAAVT50000A156NCEN) from 1989 to 2023 about VT, percent, child, poverty, and USA.

Out of all 50 states, New York had the highest per-capita real gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023, at 90,730 U.S. dollars, followed closely by Massachusetts. Mississippi had the lowest per-capita real GDP, at 39,102 U.S. dollars. While not a state, the District of Columbia had a per capita GDP of more than 214,000 U.S. dollars. What is real GDP? A country’s real GDP is a measure that shows the value of the goods and services produced by an economy and is adjusted for inflation. The real GDP of a country helps economists to see the health of a country’s economy and its standard of living. Downturns in GDP growth can indicate financial difficulties, such as the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, when the U.S. GDP decreased by 2.5 percent. The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on U.S. GDP, shrinking the economy 2.8 percent. The U.S. economy rebounded in 2021, however, growing by nearly six percent. Why real GDP per capita matters Real GDP per capita takes the GDP of a country, state, or metropolitan area and divides it by the number of people in that area. Some argue that per-capita GDP is more important than the GDP of a country, as it is a good indicator of whether or not the country’s population is getting wealthier, thus increasing the standard of living in that area. The best measure of standard of living when comparing across countries is thought to be GDP per capita at purchasing power parity (PPP) which uses the prices of specific goods to compare the absolute purchasing power of a countries currency.

In 2024, approximately 23 percent of the households in the United States lived in energy poverty. The U.S. state with the highest energy poverty rate was Mississippi, where 30 percent of the resident families were unable to pay the energy bill. U.S. families who struggle to maintain a safe temperature in the house can apply for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which aided around six million households in the country in 2023.

Two out of every three persons in Chiapas lived under the poverty line in 2022, making it the federal entity with the largest share of poor population in Mexico. On average, about 36 percent of the Mexican population was living in poverty that year.

In 2023, there were a total of seven million families living below the poverty line in the United States. Poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing, and shelter.

Graph and download economic data for Estimated Percent of People of All Ages in Poverty for Oregon (PPAAOR41000A156NCEN) from 1989 to 2023 about OR, percent, child, poverty, and USA.